NHL’s new team is buzzing

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Well well well… It has finally happened. The now former team known as the Arizona Coyotes are taking their roster talents down to Salt Lake City. The Arizona Coyotes have been playing a very depressing college arena that only holds around four thousand people. Who bought the team you ask? It was bought by Smith Entertainment Group who paid between 1.2-1.3 billion for the franchise. Ryan Smith leads the purchase as he is an owner of another Salt Lake sports team, the Utah Jazz. Smith and his wife Ashley have also announced that the team will share uniform similarities with their Utah basketball counterpart, the Jazz.  If you are a Coyotes fan then you are probably in the middle of how you feel about the big move, but in my opinion, I have never liked this move more.

How did the team even end up playing in a college arena you ask? It’s simple. Bad management. The Coyotes were kicked out of Arizona due to the fact they could not finalize a long term lease. The small capacity that Mullett Arena holds would not have been enough to stay there for another year, after they called that place home for two years. Voters in Tempe rejected three different propositions that included the construction of a two million dollar entertainment district, and once that happened, it was like watching an old building collapse after standing on barely anything for so long. Owner, Alex Meruelo, was killing Yote fans and leaving them high and dry. I swear before the move to Utah was announced, Meruelo had put out the blueprints for a new arena in both Arizona and Phoenix, saying “hockey belongs in Arizona”. Well that may be true, we will just have to wait and see.

Before we get too much into the logistics of the new Utah hockey club, I’d like to destress some Coyotes fans real quick. The Arizona Coyotes and their franchise is not dead nor ended. If the opportunity arose for a new expansion team in the NHL, Arizona will have first bid on being that team. Alex Meruelo has all the rights to the Arizona Coyotes for the upcoming five years, including their likeness and their logo , so we’ll just have to wait and see if they eventually make their return. The franchise will remain inactive but we have all seen teams such as Minnesota and Winnipeg have made their return just like the Arizona Coyotes plan to do as well.

With this being the plan for Arizona, this means that they will put a hold on their franchise records as they are treating the move to Utah as beginning as an entirely new franchise, fresh and from the start. Shane Doan is a former Coyotes legend with his son now playing on the team as well. Doan was asked about the move and felt like he wasn’t the best person to ask the question to. “I think I’m probably the worst person to ask,because I’m always the eternal optimist and so I’m going to assume that it’s going to. I’m viewing this as a chapter that’s closing. It’s not the end of the book. Hopefully, something like that happens, but I mean, that’s not my job to worry about.” said Doan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsMAzas1FfI

There have been mixed emotions from players across the Coyotes franchise but they will embrace their new home down in Utah. Players received a warm welcome when landing in Utah as they were greeted by over 100 local kids that would chant the words “Go Utah! Go Utah!” and that was already a slight tell into the love and praise they would get down in Salt Lake. Coach Tourigny summed up the situation in the perfect way.

“We’re 70 people who got traded the same day and we’re going to the same place,” coach André Tourigny said. “I think all of that creates some magic. I think we’ll just be tighter with that. When you want to win championships, you need to go through the trenches together. We went through some trenches this year.” said Tourigny. During Wednesday, April 24th, the whole team attended a fan celebration at their new home, the Delta Centre. It was a free event and the crowd was packed and buzzing. The players were in awe and each took a chance on the mic to greet the Utah fan base and get them pumped up. If this was any indication on how the barn was buzzing during the season, then the former Coyotes now Utah players, will be absolutely dialed in and put on a show for their new fanbase. More than twelve thousand fans attended the event and that is already three times more than what their former arena’s capacity was.

The team’s nickname has been a big pondering thought as of late, but now we have some information on what it looks to be. Owner Ryan Smith announced they would be using a march madness style bracket in order to find the perfect name for the team. Following that announcement he would go on to file eight trademarks under the Utah name. I will tell you the names and you let me know which you seem to find fitting. The Utah Venom, Utah Blizzard, Utah Ice, Utah Mammoths, Utah Fury, Utah Outlaws, Utah Yetis, and easily my least favourite, the Utah Hockey Club. Please oh please just do not go with the Utah Hockey Club, I just find it absolutely terrible and we saw the reaction the NFL had with the ‘Washington Football Team’ and it was nothing but a bunch of backlash. Utah already has a good rep going for them, and I hope they do not cost themselves at all. At the end of the day, I think the team should go with the Utah Ice. Basic, but rightfully fitting.

Owner of the team Ryan Smith, will proudly represent the Utah fan base and let everyone know how impactful Utah sports and events truly are. “The one thing I do know about Utah is, people show up,” Smith said. “We just had the NCAA Tournament here for basketball, and the entire arena was full. It’s just different. It’s just different here. I mean, [the Jazz have] 291 straight sellout games at the Delta Center. I think every concert that’s come into town has sold out. It’s just what we do. We show up. I have a lot of faith in the people of Utah.” said Smith.

Everything seems to be falling into place for Utah and their new hockey team. They have so many young stars of the next generation like Clayton Keller and Lawson Crouse. They both didn’t know too much about Salt Lake before making their departure for the landmark, but they already love it with Crouse saying the beautiful mountains reminds him of Canada. The team has been building its way to the future as they hold 20 picks in the first three rounds over the next few years. Time will tell how this franchise will turn out, whether it be the Utah Venom, or even the Utah Hockey Club, it should be pretty electric. Ryan Smith says there is no other sport like hockey, and he is absolutely right.




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